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Nipsistiarios
The ''nipsistiarios'' () was a Byzantine court position and rank reserved for eunuchs. The office is first attested in a 7th-century seal, but was abandoned well before the 14th century, since it is not mentioned in the ''Book of Offices'' of pseudo-Kodinos.. As his name shows (from Greek νίπτειν, "to wash hands"), the ''nipsistiarios'' was tasked with holding a gold, gem-encrusted water basin and assisting the Byzantine emperor in performing the ritual ablutions before he exited the imperial palace or performed ceremonies. According to the '' Klētorologion'' of 899, his insigne of office was a ''kamision'' (tunic) embroidered with the figure of a basin in purple.. In the ''Klētorologion'', he ranks as the lowest in the hierarchy of the specifically eunuch dignities, below the ''koubikoularios ''Cubicularius'', Hellenization, Hellenized as ''koubikoularios'' (), was a title used for the eunuch Chamberlain (office), chamberlains of the imperial palace in the later Roman Em ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koubikoularios
''Cubicularius'', Hellenization, Hellenized as ''koubikoularios'' (), was a title used for the eunuch Chamberlain (office), chamberlains of the imperial palace in the later Roman Empire and in the Byzantine Empire. The feminine version, used for the lady-in-waiting, ladies-in-waiting of the empresses, was ''koubikoularia'' (κουβικουλαρία). History The term derives from their service in the ''sacrum cubiculum'', the emperor's "sacred bedchamber". In the late Roman period, the ''cubicularii'' or ''koubikoularioi'' were numerous: according to John Malalas, Empress Theodora (6th century), Theodora's retinue numbered as many as 4,000 ''patrikios, patrikioi'' and ''koubikoularioi''.. They were placed under the command of the ''praepositus sacri cubiculi'' and the ''primicerius sacri cubiculi'', while the other palace servants came either under the ''castrensis sacri palatii'' or the ''magister officiorum''.. There were also special ''cubicularii''/''koubikoularioi'' for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th centuryAD, it endured until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The term 'Byzantine Empire' was coined only after its demise; its citizens used the term 'Roman Empire' and called themselves 'Romans'. During the early centuries of the Roman Empire, the western provinces were Romanization (cultural), Latinised, but the eastern parts kept their Hellenistic culture. Constantine the Great, Constantine I () legalised Christianity and moved the capital to Constantinople. Theodosius I, Theodosius I () made Christianity the state religion and Greek gradually replaced Latin for official use. The empire adopted a defensive strategy and, throughout its remaining history, expe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eunuch
A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millennium BCE. Over the millennia since, they have performed a wide variety of functions in many different cultures: courtiers or equivalent Domestic worker, domestics, for espionage or clandestine operations, ''castrato'' singers, Concubinage, concubines or sexual partners, religious specialists, soldiers, royal guards, government officials, and guardians of women or harem servants. Eunuchs would usually be servants or Slavery, slaves who had been castrated to make them less threatening servants of a royal court where physical access to the ruler could wield great influence. Seemingly lowly domestic functions—such as making the ruler's bed, bathing him, cutting his hair, carrying him in his litter (vehicle), litter, or even rel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudo-Kodinos
George Kodinos (), also Pseudo-Kodinos or Codinus, is the conventional name of an anonymous late 15th-century author of late Byzantine literature. Their attribution to him is only traditional, and is based on the fact that all three works come in the same manuscript. The works referred to are the following: #'' Patria'' (Πάτρια Κωνσταντινουπόλεως), treating of the history, topography, and monuments of Constantinople. It is divided into five sections: (a) the foundation of the city; (b) its situation, limits and topography; (c) its statues, works of art, and other notable sights; (d) its buildings; (e) and the construction of the Hagia Sophia. It was written in the reign of Basil II (976-1025), revised and rearranged under Alexios I Komnenos (1081–1118), and perhaps copied by Codinus, whose name it bears in some (later) manuscripts. The chief sources are: the ''Patria'' of Hesychius Illustrius of Miletus, the anonymous ''Parastaseis syntomoi chronikai'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ritual Purification
Ritual purification is a ritual prescribed by a religion through which a person is considered to be freed of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification may also apply to objects and places. Ritual uncleanliness is not identical with ordinary physical impurity, such as dirt stains; nevertheless, body fluids are generally considered ritually unclean. Most of these rituals existed long before the germ theory of disease, and figure prominently from the earliest known Ancient Near Eastern religion, religious systems of the Ancient Near East. Some writers connect the rituals to taboos. Some have seen benefits of these practices as a point of health and preventing infections especially in areas where humans come in close contact with each other. While these practices came before the idea of the germ theory was public in areas that use daily cleaning, the destruction of infectious agents seems t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kletorologion
The ''Klētorologion'' of Philotheos () is the longest and most important of the Byzantine lists of offices and court precedence ('' Taktika'').. It was published in September 899 during the reign of Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912) by the otherwise unknown '' prōtospatharios'' and '' atriklinēs'' Philotheos. As ''atriklinēs'', Philotheos would have been responsible for receiving the guests for the imperial banquets (''klētοria'') and for conducting them to their proper seating places according to their place in the imperial hierarchy. In the preface to his work, he explicitly states that he compiled this treatise as a "precise exposé of the order of imperial banquets, of the name and value of each title, complied on the basis of ancient ''klētοrologia''", and recommends its adoption at the imperial table.. Sections Philotheos's work survives only as an appendix within the last chapters (52–54) of the second book of a later treatise on imperial ceremonies known as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tunic
A tunic is a garment for the torso, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the ankles. It might have arm-sleeves, either short or full-length. Most forms have no fastenings. The name derives from the Latin '' tunica'', the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rome, which in turn was based on earlier Greek garments that covered wearers' waists. The term is likely borrowed from a Semitic word *''kittan'' with metathesis. The word khiton () is of the same origin. Ancient era Roman tunic The Roman ''tunica'' was adopted by Roman citizens in the 3rd century BCE. It was often worn by Roman citizens and by non-citizens alike. However, citizens might wear it under the toga, especially at formal occasions. The length of the garment, the presence or lack of stripes, as well as their width and ornamentation, would indicate the wearer's status in Roman society. Roman senators, for example, used the '' laticla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samonas
Samonas (, 875 – after 908) was an Arab eunuch, who was captured by the Byzantines and became one of the most influential officials of the Byzantine Empire during the first decade of the 10th century. Biography Samonas was born in circa 875 in Melitene, apparently the son of a distinguished family (his father served as ambassador to Byzantium in 908).. Captured by the Byzantines, he was made a eunuch and entered service in the household of Stylianos Zaoutzes, the powerful chief minister and father-in-law of Emperor Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912).. After the death of both Stylianos and his daughter, the Empress Zoe Zaoutzaina, in 899, his relatives plotted to overthrow Leo in a bid to preserve their power and influence. Their conspiracy, however, was betrayed by Samonas to Leo: the members of the Zaoutzes clan were deprived of their titles and wealth and exiled, but Samonas was rewarded by receiving one third of their fortune and being taken into imperial service as ''koubikoul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byzantine Court Titles
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th centuryAD, it endured until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The term 'Byzantine Empire' was coined only after its demise; its citizens used the term 'Roman Empire' and called themselves 'Romans'. During the early centuries of the Roman Empire, the western provinces were Latinised, but the eastern parts kept their Hellenistic culture. Constantine I () legalised Christianity and moved the capital to Constantinople. Theodosius I () made Christianity the state religion and Greek gradually replaced Latin for official use. The empire adopted a defensive strategy and, throughout its remaining history, experienced recurring cycles of decline and recovery. It reached its greatest extent un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
